Weekend That Was: NHIS (cont'd)

"I think [Sunday] mainly proved how strong Hendrick Motorsports is, more than anything," said a grinning but decidedly humble Meendering after Sunday's race. "Steve Letarte was very, very involved in this weekend, as far as helping me with the game plan and helping me get the racecar sorted out. I think he was a lot more involved than a lot of people think.

"He just couldn't be in the garage or on the radios. He couldn't make any calls. We were kind of on our own there."

Success continues

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had top-fives in their first races with interim crew chiefs. Dale Jr. did, too, in his last race without Tony Eury Jr.

• Complete story, click here
• Video: Gordon, Junior talk

Then Meendering added a stunning statement.

"It was a little nerve-wracking for a while, but as good as our engineers are, as good as Ken Howes is at helping me out up on the box, again you get so much backing, so much support at Hendrick Motorsports, that it made it fairly easy," Meendering said. "I shouldn't say it, I guess, but it was fairly easy.

Yes, Hamlin won the race. But the HMS organization once again proved it currently is the best in the sport, able to overcome any adversity. (watch video)

Communication breakdown

During Gordon's first pit stop early in the race, the driver and Meendering had a miscommunication as Gordon was about to drive out of the pit stall. Seems Meendering was trying to tell Gordon to stop and let another car go by, while a confused Gordon thought he was telling him to go.

Gordon gently admonished his interim chief on the radio afterward, telling him that normally Letarte doesn't say anything and that Gordon simply mashes down the gas and goes when the jack is dropped.

"We did sort of a have a communication gap there," Meendering admitted later. "I was being ultra-conservative the first time getting him out. The 14 car [of driver Sterling Marlin] was coming around us, and I was stopping [Gordon] to get him back behind the 14 car as he came around us. I probably played it a little too safe there.

"But I think we got that communication thing figured out pretty quick. He just asked me to come up with a better way to tell him to get out of the pits."

They figured it out pretty quickly.

"It was a little nerve-wracking at first, just getting him on and off pit road clean," Meendering said. "But it was really just our normal routine. And after the first couple of stops, it became more natural to me."

Good call

Of course, Meendering wasn't perfect his first day on the box. The call of the day was made by Hamlin and his crew chief, Mike Ford. Their decision to take on only two tires when Gordon and most of the rest of the field took the time to grab four on the final pit stop ultimately made the difference in the race.

Like the rest of the field, the decision caught Meendering off-guard.

"We felt pretty good about being able to catch [Hamlin]," Meendering said. "He took those two tires, and we were feeling pretty good. But now we're kind of second-guessing our last stop -- wondering if we should have got just two ourselves. We just didn't feel those two tires were going to hold on as well as they did for him."

Gibson ready

There is much speculation as to who will be the crew chief for driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. next year when he begins driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Will Tony Eury Jr. follow him over from DEI? Will it be Alan Gustafson, currently the crew chief for Kyle Busch? (While Busch is leaving Hendrick, Gustafson has said he would like to stay).

Or how about Tony Gibson? Earnhardt heaped the accolades on Gibson after a fourth-place finish in Sunday's race, the last of the six in which Gibson has subbed for the suspended Eury Jr. Earnhardt made it clear that he believes Gibson is more than ready to become a full-time crew chief in his own right, whether it's at DEI or somewhere else next season.

"I think so, obviously. He's going to rely on friends, like Tony Jr. does, around the garage to assist you in gray areas that you don't have enough experience in or enough knowledge in," Earnhardt said. "I think Tony Gibson can get with any driver and be awesome. I think he's been around the sport a long time. I know he's done a great job for me. I can't complain." (Continued)